I N S I D E | Your time is over

Chapter 1

Judie Hard sat at her desk, bored. She glanced at the sleek black clock perched just above the door across from her. She had now been back from vacation for exactly 107 minutes and still had nothing to do.
At that moment she would even have been happy about the files she hated so much. She could, of course, have surfed the Internet, answered private messages, or had a little chat like her colleagues did, but she didn't want to jeopardize her position in the HPU department.
Just before she went on vacation, her boss at the time had announced the new job to her. He knew it was her dream job and had been working toward it since she first started at Scotland Yard.
Judie sighed as she looked at the silver plaque on her oak desk.
Judie Hard was written there in curved letters and underneath it: Murder Prevention Unit. That sounded so much more exciting than it was at the moment.
She should have had an appointment with her new boss Clair Reloy less than an hour ago, but she seemed to be noticeably late.
If something like that happened to a superior, there were no consequences, of course. But alas, she was five minutes late...
Judie sighed again. The silvery hand of the clock crept incredibly slowly across the dial.
The criminologist closed her eyes for a moment and thought about her beautiful warm days in Malta.
A vigorous knock snapped Judie out of her thoughts.
She immediately sat up straight and cleared her throat. She didn't need a raspy voice right now.
"Come in," she said loudly to the door, almost immediately feeling like a strict headmaster.
The door opened and a brunette woman with a bob walked in. She seemed likeable right away.
She was wearing a dark blue suit, but the white blouse that she appeared to have tucked into her skirt stuck out to the side.
The woman also looked anything but relaxed when approached.
The hairstyle was messy and a few drops of sweat had collected on the woman's forehead.
At first Judie thought that Clair had overslept Reloy-because that was probably the woman-but the elaborate makeup didn't match that at all.
In addition, the shoes looked freshly polished. No one who has overslept puts so much effort into their appearance.
"Miss Hard," Clair began.
Then she sat down opposite Jodie and leaned back with a sigh of relief.
"Have you read the newspaper today?" she asked.
Jodie said no. She rarely read the Times, although it was not entirely unimportant in her profession.
"Then take a look at this!", the woman pulled her mobile phone out of a small pocket on the skirt and opened one side.
Clair Reloy was obviously the sort of person who reads almost exclusively digitally.
Judie bent over the mobile device with interest. The headline caught her eye:
Bloody Murder at Downing Street
Judie looked at her boss, but she motioned for her to read the article.

John O.'s body was found around eight in the morning on Tuesday morning, May 14th.
According to the coroner, he was killed by an unknown person between 11 p.m. and midnight the previous day. The killer killed John O. with a sideways stab through the neck and then bled his victim to death. On the wall behind the dead man was a sentence written in blood: Suum quique.
If you have more information about the murder or the perpetrator, then please contact the London police immediately, who are already following several leads. We thank you for your assistance.

When Judie finished reading, she leaned back in her chair.
"It's all really awful, but I don't quite understand why they're showing me this. The police seem to be on the right track." Judie frowned.
Misses Reloy shook her head, "That's the problem right there. The police didn't find anything at all. There is not a single trace! They have no idea what else to do, especially since a psychologist says it's probably a serial killer."
Judie frowned.
"How did he come up with that?" she wanted to know.
She didn't understand how anyone could figure out a serial killer when there was a body.
"The Latin writing on the wall brings him to it. Of course we couldn't be 100% sure, but we just want to prevent something worse!"
"Suum quique," Judie mused aloud. "To each his own?"
Her boss nodded.
"Okay and now you want... Yes, what exactly are you hoping for from me?" Judie asked interested.
"You're taking the case!" Clair told her.
"Will I get a team?"
"Of course I'll put Robert Williamson at your side. He's an experienced investigator and I think they'll get along well."
Judie nodded and was handed the case file by Misses Reloy.
"I'll leave her alone now. Robert should go see her right away. Then you can discuss how to proceed," she said goodbye.
Then Judie was left alone again.
She used her free minutes to dig out a lipstick from her purse and paint her lips a dark red.
While she was preoccupied with her appearance, the door opened and a handsome young man, who appeared to be a little older than her, walked in.
"Well, you didn't have to dress up like that for me," he grinned at Judie.
She was a bit overwhelmed at first, but then laughed, put the lipstick back and then replied confidently: "I thought it makes a good impression if at least one of us looks good!"
With these words she got up and went to her colleague.
"Judie Hard," she introduced herself.
"Robert Williamson," the man replied.
Judie eyed him with interest.
He had tanned skin, dark blond hair, olive green eyes and a small beard. His shirt was unbuttoned a crack at the top, sunglasses were in his shirt pocket, and silver rings were on two of his fingers.
Under other circumstances, the man would have been exactly her type, but now only the case mattered.
"I hope you don't mind if we use first names? Otherwise I find it so terribly impersonal," Robert wanted to know.
"No I didn't," Judie replied with a smile, grabbing her denim jacket from a small stand.
Even though it was May, it was still pretty chilly outside. It was only now that she noticed that her outfit wasn't particularly aptly chosen.
A knee-length black dress and pumps might not have been very appropriate on an assignment, but she couldn't take that into account now.
"Well, then, I would say, we're going to the scene of the crime, right?" She was almost at the door when she remembered her colleague.
"Why do these young people always have to be so motivated?" Robert rolled his eyes up annoyed, but a moment later he winked at his teammate with a grin and left the office with her.